Vaibhav Sooryavanshi benched for third successive T20I in bizarre call

India again left Vaibhav Sooryavanshi out for the third T20I against Afghanistan in Delhi in what was a bizarre call. India had already wrapped up the series and could have given the 15-year-old some time in the middle before the Japan T20I and Asian Games.Sooryavanshi was snubbed again by India (Courtesy: Reuters)Fans came in expecting to see Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in the 3rd T20I between Afghanistan and India in New Delhi were left disappointed as the boy wonder was snubbed again. India decided to stick to the opening pair of Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson for the final match, despite winning the series 2-0.Fans flooded into the Arun Jaitley stadium, waiting to get a glimpse of the 15-year-old as the teams were warming up. As soon as Sooryavanshi started to get a few hits away, the crowd roared with some coming close to the boundary to get a better view. However, they were finally left disappointed.AFG VS IND 3RD T20I UPDATESAfghanistan won the toss and opted to bowl in Delhi. They made two changes with Noor Ahmad and Gulbadin Naib sitting out and Abdullah Amhadzai and Noor ul Rahman coming in. India got Yash Thakur in for Arshdeep Singh, who was given a rest. Fans will now need to wait until the Japan T20I or the Asian Games to see Sooryavanshi possibly play for India. WHY SOORYAVANSHI SNUB LOOKS BIZARREWhile it is understandable that India wanted to stick with the Abhishek-Samson for the first two games, one of them could have been rested for the final match of the series. Abhishek has been playing consistently from the time of the T20 World Cup 2026 and played a gruelling season of the IPL as well. It would have made sense for him to take a breather, given that India will now make the long trip to Japan for the T20I against Japan and then the Asian Games.Ishan Kishan was also someone they could have rested as he did have an injury scare ahead of the first match and like Abhishek, has been ever-present for India in T20Is since making his return.AFG VS IND 3RD T20I: PLAYING XIsIndia Playing XI : Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer (c), Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah, Yash Ravisingh ThakurAfghanistan Playing XI : Ibrahim Zadran (c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Sediqullah Atal, Abdullah Ahmadzai, Darwish Rasooli, Noor ul Rahman, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi- EndsPublished On: Sep 17, 2026 19:47 IST